“photo exercise” and said it was “extraordinarily rare” to see all four out at once.) ProPublica has spent this year examining the Navy’s state of readiness, including its response to known vulnerabilities in its ranks and arsenal. As part of that effort, ProPublica spoke with a dozen Navy officers, sailors, contractors and experts about the mine warfare unit. Those interviewed asked for anonymity so they could candidly discuss what they allege is neglect in the unit. The weakness they describe is in a relatively modest and unglamorous division of the Navy – 11 ships with a limited mission – but they nonetheless feel the problems have become more pressing given the United States’ volatile relationships with Iran and North Korea. Those interviewed said Navy brass had made damaging budget decisions that have kept them from having a well-functioning mine warfare fleet. “It’s not that they don’t want it, it’s that they want other things more,” one officer said. “Every dollar you’re spending on [mine countermeasures] is a dollar you’re not spending on some cool new submarine.” To make matters worse, efforts to replace the aging ships with newer ones have been met with repeated costly delays. And the quality of the training given to the sailors in the unit had suffered. A defense contractor who has worked with the ships in recent years said the minesweepers suffered the highest rate of mechanical problems of any Navy ship. (A
The USS Dextrous, front, USS Gladiator, USS Devastator and USS Sentry, minesweepers based in the Persian Gulf, at sea for a “photo exercise,” according to one officer, on July 6, 2019. They are followed by the guided missile destroyer USS Mason. (Antonio Gemma More/U.S. Navy)
Navy spokesman declined to comment on that assessment, but he said that “recent metrics show that there has been substantial improvement.”) The USS Devastator, or MCM 6, was recently out of commission because the Navy couldn’t fix a key part, according to a sailor who recently served a long tour on the ship. The ship was out of the water so long the sailors started jokingly referring to it as “Building 6,” since it never actually moved. Another military contractor, who has worked with the minesweepers, said the Navy has historically relied too heavily on computer- based training instead of hands-on exercises. Sailors on the ships, he said, often do not know how to use their equipment. “I’m telling you they can’t do it, not with any degree of operational proficiency,” the contractor said.
American Consequences
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